If there is one word that makes everyone feel slightly inferior, or at least feel a little less confident, it is likely to be the word ?ear.? In some ways, the feeling of fear is humbling. To feel fear is to admit not knowing some vital aspects of human knowledge, and fear is usually followed by pain of some form or another. In any case, fear is generally a taboo in daily conversation. We ask our small-talk acquaintances what they enjoy, but almost never what they fear. That? simply out of order.
   Now here? a fair question: what would you say is the opposite of fear? For the longest time, the word that came to my mind was safety, or better still, security.  Being secure meant that there was something placed in between me and the source of fear, so that I would be automatically protected from it. However, of late, I have been on a personal quest to figure out what that something is.
   Recently, it hit me. What I was looking for was actually quite real, something that didn? need some Freudian explanation. I realized that fear could be overcome when I was in full knowledge that someone out there?e it immediate family or friend?oved me. In other words, the answer I was looking for was ?ove.?If you?e skeptical, here? an illustration to help explain this point. Despite what media says about the general reduction of fear of AIDS, we in the 21st century are more exposed to HIV than ever.  Not even a month ago, five innocent children in Kazakhstan were infected with the disease due to negligent blood transmission.  However, we may also be the closest ever to finding a cure for AIDS because of one heartwarming and shocking discovery, a medical miracle of sorts. Within the past few years, it has been proven that, for newborn babies who contract HIV from birth, it is possible to overcome the disease in a few months on one condition?hat they are loved and cared for with utmost affection.  This refers to both physical and emotional nurturing.
   When I heard this news, I was flooded with questions. Would I be able to pour out my love to an HIV-positive baby? Would the risk be worth it? Did that mean I feared AIDS? After much thought, I came to a conclusion that I did, indeed, fear AIDS but that it would only take one thing to overcome that fear: my love for the baby? life. The end result of this love would be both the eradication of the disease, and the eradication of the fear of catching the disease. Thus the power of love overthrows the power of fear.
   In this way, love and fear are polar opposites. Or as Pearl S. Buck once put it, ?n this earth, though far and near, without love, there? only fear.?Try asking yourselves what you fear the most in life. It might not be AIDS.  Could it be failure? Rejection?  Exam periods? Now think, how can love overcome this fear? Try it. You might be surprised at the ?edical miracle?you discover for your own fear.
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